Widow Sisters and Friends (Restoring Our Broken Hearts): Book 2

Safe and Sound: Part 4

Summary: In the aftermath of torturous disaster, Yelena is the only one that can pick up the pieces of what is left of Natasha's mind and bring her back to who she was before. Fortunately, Natasha is extremely receptive to her efforts and craves her baby sister's nearness and comfort.

   Strangely, the most unexpected yet unfortunately normal thing showed up the next morning on their doorstep.

Yelena had been in the kitchen preparing breakfast—granted, it was an odd thing for her to do, but she wanted to take care of Natasha for once— and Natasha had been quietly working alongside her to make her usual tea—Yelena would have been doing that, too, but she did not know how to make Natasha's tea— when the doorbell suddenly rang.

Yelena had stopped in her diligent watchfulness of the toast in the toaster, and Natasha had offered her a nod to assure her that she was keeping watch over things. Yelena had felt bad about leaving her with it, but she knew that bread realistically was not that much to watch over especially since it was in the toaster.

Therefore, she headed over to the door mostly guilt-free as she opened it carefully, a hint of protectiveness about her since she did not know who exactly had showed up.

To her shock and somewhat to her dismay, it was Kate. As soon as she spotted Yelena, she grinned widely and a little awkwardly.

"Hey!" Kate greeted a little breathlessly, and Yelena realized that Kate must have run all the way there. Yelena raised an eyebrow as she looked over Kate's form, and she quickly homed in on the enormous bag in her hands.

She quickly came to the conclusion that lugging whatever was in that bag must have been what truly got Kate so out of breath.

"What's that?" Yelena questioned, cutting straight to the point as she pointed at Kate's bag. Kate looked down at it before looking back up at Yelena with a shrug and that same big, goofy smile as she shifted in place just a little.

"A care package for Tasha! I know I'm not allowed to see her since it might overwhelm her a little, but I thought I could at least bring something for her to enjoy as she's getting used to things again," Kate expressed, and Yelena immediately noted how Kate kept trying to sneak glances behind her in what Yelena assumed was an attempt to see Natasha.

"I brought several containers of peanut butter since I know it's Tasha's favorite thing ever," Kate withdrew a container of peanut butter, holding it up, and Yelena just watched silently as she took in Kate's monologue that followed.

"I also brought some peppermint patties for her since I know that's her favorite dessert... And I got some Nutella! Because like, who doesn't like Nutella, right?" Kate questioned with a slight laugh before digging in her huge bag some more.

"I got her weighted blanket from the compound... I mean, I figured that she might have one here, but just in case... And I got all of her packets of green tea from the compound so she wouldn't run out. I didn't know how long you guys would be staying here to recover, so I wanted to make sure she was stocked up," Kate explained, and Yelena just blinked as she stared at her. Kate just stood there somewhat awkwardly before her.

"So... Umm... I can just hand this to you, and you can like... maybe give it to her, and I can just... go," Kate hesitantly told her, holding out the bag to her, and Yelena took it from her, looking inside as she peered at all of the things Kate had brought.

After a long moment, Yelena looked back up at her. She studied the kid for a long moment, knowing that no matter how much she did not want to and how much she wanted to keep Natasha to herself that she was going to have to let Kate in. Kate might could help bring back some manner of normalcy to Natasha and might could help her break this silence that she had been stuck in since this happened.